What a pleasure it is to publish the first entry in this year's Travel Highlights Competition. It is from Tony James Slater, well-known travel memoir author.​

​Off the Rails

I sprinted down the platform, ignoring all sounds of pursuit.The train was like something from 1970’s Britain, only daubed with indecipherable Chinese characters. The air was hot and spicy.I swung into my carriage with one thought: Must Reach My Wife.She was already aboard; if it left without me we’d be completely adrift, separated by a thousand miles of deepest China.“Thank God!” she said, “I was so worried!”“Yeah,” I panted, “but we have a problem…”Her eyes widened as she saw the policemen forcing their way down the carriage towards me. All were carrying machine guns.

​

Tony James Slater is a very, very strange man. He believes himself to be indestructible, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. He is often to be found making strange faces whilst pretending to be attacked by inanimate objects. And sometimes - not always, but often enough to be of concern - his testicles hang out of the holes in his trousers. It is for this reason (amongst others) that he chooses to spend his life far from mainstream civilization, tackling ridiculous challenges and subjecting himself to constant danger. He gets hurt quite a lot. For more information, or to complain about his shameless self promotion, please visit: www.TonyJamesSlater.com